Sharpton to preside over Amir Locke's funeral Thursday in north Minneapolis

Amir Locke, the young man who was fatally shot by police during a raid in a downtown Minneapolis apartment early this month, will be eulogized on Thursday in a North Side church.

The funeral is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. at Shiloh Temple International Ministries, with a public viewing planned for 10 a.m.

The arrangements were announced by the Locke family's attorney, Ben Crump, and the Rev. Al Sharpton, who will officiate the service and deliver the eulogy.

A family processional will be held in the moments leading up to the service and will include Locke's parents, Andre Locke and Karen Wells.

Crump, who has represented numerous Black families who have lost loved ones to police gunfire, said he will deliver a "call to justice" during the service at the house of worship at 1201 W. Broadway.

Sharpton eulogized George Floyd in Minneapolis after he died while in police custody in May 2020. Crump represented the Floyd family and won a $27 million wrongful-death settlement with the city.

Shiloh Temple has long been a rallying point for civil rights activism in the Twin Cities and in recent years has played a key role in memorializing other Black men who have died during encounters with police.

Sharpton gave the eulogy at Shiloh Temple in April for Daunte Wright, who was fatally shot in Brooklyn Center by officer Kimberly Potter as he tried to flee arrest. Potter has been convicted of manslaughter and is scheduled to be sentenced the day after Locke's funeral.

In July, Crump participated in a ceremony at Shiloh Temple to honor the life of Leneal Frazier, a 40-year-old Black man who died after a police squad car struck his vehicle in north Minneapolis during a high-speed chase. Frazier was the uncle of Darnella Frazier, the teenager who shot the curbside video that brought Floyd's death before a global audience.

Shiloh Temple Bishop Richard Howell Jr. said that the grief in the midst of memorializing a young life lost in such a public incident creates "a melancholy atmosphere, but it's a time when we want to celebrate a life."

Howell said these services "always bring sadness … looking at the faces of family who are stunned and shocked at the loss of a loved one. To see the hurt on their faces is not easy."

The bishop said his house of worship is prepared to receive roughly 1,500 attendees, and Locke's service will be livestreamed on the temple's Facebook page.

Locke was shot while a Minneapolis SWAT team executed a "no-knock" search warrant on Feb. 2 at the Bolero Flats Apartment Homes at 1117 Marquette Av., in connection with a St. Paul homicide case.

One of the officers shot Locke in the early-morning raid as he emerged from under a blanket on a couch while holding a gun. Police were not searching for Locke, and he was not named in the warrants.

The state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating the shooting. The case is also under review by the state Attorney General's Office, which led the prosecution of Derek Chauvin, the fired Minneapolis police officer convicted of killing Floyd.

A Hennepin County judge approved the no-knock warrant that led to the shooting of Amir Locke during a raid in downtown Minneapolis last week in order to "decrease the risk for injuries to the suspects and other residents" because the individuals they sought had violent criminal histories and were known to be armed, according to court documents unsealed last week.

The predawn raid stemmed from the fatal shooting of 38-year-old Otis Elder during an apparent drug transaction Jan. 10 outside a music recording studio in St. Paul. The latest court filings accuse Locke's 17-year-old cousin, Mekhi Speed, and others with him of "attempting to rob [Elder] of money and/or drugs."

Speed, of Minneapolis, was charged last week with second-degree murder in connection with Elder's killing. He remains in custody before a court hearing March 16 to address the request from the Ramsey County Attorney's Office to move his case to adult court.